Wireless devices, such as PDAs, cellular phones, etc. contain many internal parts. These parts require specifications and designs to ensure the wireless device functions. Also, because of the small, often-handheld nature, of wireless devices, the manufacturing tolerances for the parts are controlled closely. For convenience, this application uses the example of cellular phones generically for wireless devices
Conventionally, a cellular phone handset manufacture designs specifications and sizes for the parts making up the cellular phone, which typically include battery packs, antennas, ringer/vibrators, printed circuit boards, keyboard circuits, etc. The manufacture receives (or separately produces) the parts and fits them into a part housing consisting of two or three plastic injection molded or die cast pieces that fit over, encase, or “clam shell” over the internal components. The pieces, with their housing, are put in the cellular phone handset
Using the above assembly method, conventional handset manufacturers expend significant resources engineering parts, identifying part manufacturers that can develop parts within narrow tolerances, and un-package and inspect each part received from a supplier. The inspection includes dimensional as well as functional inspection.
For example, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a conventional antenna construct 100 for a cellular telephone in various stages of development. In this example, antenna construct 100 is manufactured using a conventional two-stage molding and selective plating manufacturing technique. One of skill in the art would recognize other and equivalent manufacturing techniques could be used, such as a metal stamping, laser etch or embossing technique. FIG. 1 shows base 102 for antenna construct 100. FIG. 1 shows base 102 having been molded with mounting anchors 108. A first injection mold is injected with a first, typically non-platable plastic, to make base plastic 102. FIG. 2 shows base plastic 102 with a platable plastic 104 molded as a second shot of plastic on base 102. A second shot of plastic, typically platable plastic, is injected into a mold during the injection molding process so that platable plastic 104 is selectively molded onto base 102. FIG. 3 shows a metal plating 106 plated onto platable plastic 104 (not shown in FIG. 3). Because base 102 is a non-platable plastic, metal-plating 106 only attaches to platable plastic 104. Thus, selectively molding platable plastic 104 on base plastic 102 allows for selectively placing metal-plating 106 to make antenna construct 100.
Once the antenna construct 100 is manufactured, it needs to be fitted into, for example, a cellular phone Antenna construct 100 is mounted to the cellular phone using a conventional coupling, such as, for example, a friction fitting, a snap lock fitting, a screw, or the like. In this case, for example, snap studs may be molded into the cellular phone housing (not shown). Mounting anchors 108 of antenna 100 would be aligned with the snap studs and fitted into the housing.
As can be seen, antenna construct 100 comprises several parts (base plastic 102, platable plastic 104, and plating 106) as well as mounting parts, such as mounting anchors 108, all of which take up space in a small cellular phone. Thus, it would be desirous to design a wireless device manufacturing process and a wireless device that would address the above mentioned and other problems in manufacturing wireless devices